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Thermodynamic Optimization of a Solar Parabolic Trough Collector with Nanofluid as Heat Transfer Fluid

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Abstract

The study presents a numerical analysis of the parameters of the system for receiving solar vapor from a cylindrical collector with Syltherm800/Al2O3 nanofluid as a coolant. A 3D mathematical model of convective heat transfer in a heat sink has been developed, which takes into account the environmental conditions and the uneven distribution of the concentrated solar flux, calculated by the Monte Carlo method. The temperature dependence of the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid was found using empirical formulas. It has been proven that at an initial coolant temperature of 300 K and a speed of 4 m/s, adding 3, 5, and 8% of Al2O3 nanoparticles to the base coolant increases the heat transfer coefficient by 1.5, 3.4, and 7.8%, respectively. The problem of convective heat transfer was solved together with the hydrodynamic problem. The dependence of the Nusselt numbers of the considered coolants on the Reynolds numbers in the range from 0 to 55 × 104 is found. It has been determined that with an increase in the Reynolds number (\(\operatorname{Re} > {{10}^{5}}\)), the average Nusselt number for 3, 5, and 8% of Syltherm800/Al2O3 nanofluids increases by 7.66, 11.8, and 15.76%, respectively. The method of minimizing the production of entropy was applied to find the range of Reynolds numbers that determine the optimal thermodynamic parameters. For 3% Syltherm800/Al2O3 nanofluid, the optimal value of Reynolds numbers lies in the range \(20 \times {{10}^{4}} < \operatorname{Re} < 40 \times {{10}^{4}}\).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was carried out within the initiative (without funding) of the scientific topic of the Department of Computer Technologies of the D,nipro National University, 0122U001467, Deterministic and Stochastic Algorithms for Computer Simulation of Objects and Processes of Different Nature (supervisor L.I. Knysh). The authors are grateful to their colleagues for their support and valuable advice. In addition, the authors sincerely thank the editorial board of the Applied Solar Energy International Scientific Journal for their cooperation and the opportunity to acquaint the scientific community with the results of the study.

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  1. Dnipro National University, Dnipro, Ukraine

    L. Knysh & A. Borysenko

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  1. L. Knysh
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  2. A. Borysenko
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Correspondence to L. Knysh.

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Knysh, L., Borysenko, A. Thermodynamic Optimization of a Solar Parabolic Trough Collector with Nanofluid as Heat Transfer Fluid. Appl. Sol. Energy 58, 668–674 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X22601193

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X22601193

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